ITEM
107-111-R0500Approval
of Tentative Agreement with The University of Montana-Missoula College of
Technology Faculty Association

THAT:The Montana Board of Regents of
Higher Education approves the Tentative Agreement with The University of
Montana-Missoula College of Technology Faculty Association

EXPLANATION:See attached memo to Board of
Regents from

Sue
Hill, Director, Labor Relations and Personnel

ATTACHMENTS:a.Memo
to Board of Regents from Sue Hill

b.Tentative
Agreement between theMontana Board of
Regents of HigherEducation and The
University ofMontana-Missoula College
ofTechnology Faculty Association

Item 107-111-R0500ATTACHMENT

TO:Board of Regents

FROM:Sue Hill, Director

Labor Relations and
Personnel

RE:Approval
of Tentative Agreement with The University of Montana-Missoula College ofTechnology Faculty Association

DATE:May 18-19, 2000

The faculty at the
The University of Montana-Missoula College of Technology recently voted to form
their own bargaining unit.Previously,
they were included in a state-wide bargaining unit (Vocational Technical
Educators of Montana) along with faculty at the other colleges of technology.

The attached
tentative agreement with The University of Montana-Missoula College of
Technology Faculty Association shows the changes made to the 1997-1999
agreement with the Vocational Technical Educators of Montana (VTEM).Most are not substantive and are intended to
reflect the new bargaining unit structure.In the future, the faculty and administration at The University of
Montana-Missoula College of Technology would like to work towards an agreement
that more closely parallels the agreement with the faculty at The University of
Montana-Missoula.As a first step, the
salary structure included in the VTEM agreement was replaced with salary
floors.The collective bargaining
agreement covering The University of Montana-Missoula College of Technology
will specify only minimum levels for new hires as opposed to a set schedule
which allows for very little flexibility to address the realities of the
marketplace.The salary increases for
faculty at The University of Montana-Missoula College of Technology were
determined by taking the pool of money generated under the salary settlement
with VTEM and redistributing it as an across-the-board percentage
increase.The only other substantive
change was to delete the requirement that all employees pay dues or a representation
fee to the union.The faculty
bargaining team initiated that change.

The faculty will have
voted to approve the tentative agreement prior to the May Regent meeting or
this item will be withdrawn.I
recommend approval of the tentative agreement with The University of
Montana-Missoula College of Technology Faculty Association.